Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011 Dec 1;57(6):943-9.
doi: 10.1002/pbc.23252. Epub 2011 Jul 25.

Soft tissue sarcoma across the age spectrum: a population-based study from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results database

Andrea Ferrari  1 , Iyad Sultan, Tseng Tien Huang, Carlos Rodriguez-Galindo, Ahmad Shehadeh, Cristina Meazza, Kirsten K Ness, Michela Casanova, Sheri L Spunt
Affiliations

Soft tissue sarcoma across the age spectrum: a population-based study from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results database

Andrea Ferrari et al. Pediatr Blood Cancer. .

Abstract

Background: Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are a heterogeneous group of mesenchymal malignancies that occur throughout the lifespan. The impact of age on disease features and outcome is unclear.

Methods: We analyzed the clinical features and outcome of all STS cases registered between 1973 and 2006 in the SEER database.

Results: There were 48,012 cases that met the selection criteria. Individuals less than 20 years of age represented 5.6%, with rhabdomyosarcoma being the most common subtype. In adults, the most common types were Kaposi sarcoma, fibrohistiocytic tumors, and leiomyosarcoma. Rhabdomyosarcoma was the only entity with a median age <20 years. Male predominance (male/female of 1.5:1) was noticed for almost all types of STS, except for alveolar soft part sarcoma and leiomyosarcoma. Tumor stage was similar across different age groups. Younger patients (<50 years) had significantly better survival than older patients (88.8 ± 0.2% vs. 40 ± 0.3%, P < 0.001), but for most histologies the survival decline with advancing age was gradual and did not occur abruptly at the onset of adulthood. The decline in survival with advancing age was particularly significant for rhabdomyosarcoma.

Conclusion: With few exceptions, the clinical features of STS are similar in children and adults. However, individuals over 50 years of age have an inferior survival.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no financial interest or conflict of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(A) Distribution of histologic subtypes by 10-year age groups, (B)distribution of primary tumor sites by 10-year age groups, (C) distribution of tumor stage by 10-year age groups; abbreviations: RMS: rhabdomyosarcomas; Fibroblastic: fibroblastic and myofibroblastic tumors; Fibrohistiocytic: Fibrohistiocytic tumors; NST: malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors; Kaposi: Kaposi sarcoma; pPNET: Ewing family tumors; Rhabdoid: extraneral rhabdoid tumor; Liposarcoma: liposarcomas; Synovial: Synovial sarcomas; Blood vessel: blood vessel tumors; ASPS: alveolar soft parts sarcoma; Miscellaneous: Miscellaneous/unspecified soft tissue sarcomas including other fibromatous neoplasms.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Weiss S, Goldblum J. General considerations. In: Weiss S, Goldblum J, editors. Enzinger and Weiss’s Soft Tissue Tumors. St Louis, Missouri: CV Mosby; 2001. pp. 1–19.
    1. National Cancer Institute. Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program Public-Use Data (1973–2006) National Cancer Institute, DCCPS, Surveillance Research Program, Cancer Statistics Branch; released April 2009, based on the November 2008 submission. www.seer.cancer.gov.
    1. Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program. National Cancer Institute, DCCPS, Surveillance Research Program, Cancer Statistics Branch; SEER*Stat Database: Incidence - SEER 9 Regs Limited-Use, Nov 2008 Sub (1973–2006) <Katrina/Rita Population Adjustment> - Linked To County Attributes - Total U.S., 1969–2006 Counties. ( www.seer.cancer.gov) released April 2009, based on the November 2008 submission.
    1. Levi F, Randimbison L, Te VC, et al. Kaposi’s sarcoma in Vaud and Neuchatel, Switzerland, 1978–2002. Eur J Cancer. 2004;40(10):1630–1633. - PubMed
    1. Rouhani P, Fletcher CD, Devesa SS, et al. Cutaneous soft tissue sarcoma incidence patterns in the U.S. : an analysis of 12,114 cases. Cancer. 2008;113(3):616–627. - PubMed